Now that Boston’s bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics is over, the focus turns west, where Los Angeles is a possibility to replace the Hub as the US bid city.

Monday afternoon, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued a statement that expressed his city’s interest in resuming its bid for the 2024 Games: “I continue to believe that Los Angeles is the ideal Olympic city and we have always supported the USOC in their effort to return the Games to the United States. I would be happy to engage in discussions with the USOC about how to present the strongest and most fiscally responsible bid on behalf of our city and nation.”

Okay, so Boston’s not looking so hot, but why should Los Angeles get excited? For starters, though San Francisco and Washington, DC were also competing in the last round for the bid, neither of them was seen as a “plausible” candidate for the Olympics, 3WireSports says. And one senior IOC member straight-up proclaimed, “Los Angeles is better than Boston.” (Duh.)

As Boston’s bid has struggled with low public support, officials from the USOC and Los Angeles have repeatedly denied having any official contact. But it has been no secret that Los Angeles would be ready and willing to mount a bid on short notice.

That readiness could be put to the test now that Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh has vowed not to mortgage his city’s future for a shot at the 2024 Games.

And the Orange County Register had details on what an LA bid might look like:

A Los Angeles bid would have little of the infrastructure, governmental or fiscal concerns that have hindered Boston’s efforts. But a Los Angeles bid would likely face some resistance within the IOC to granting Southern California a third Games. The USOC’s selection of Boston in January came after some IOC members were cool to the idea of returning to Los Angeles.

A series of facilities completed since 1984 such as Staples Center and StubHub as well as potentially a stadium in Inglewood or Carson would compliment venues used in Los Angeles’ second Olympic Games 31 years ago. Securing a third Olympic Games for Los Angeles had been a major priority for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who wrote a letter to Probst and USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun on his first day in office, July 1, 2013. The letter also included a Los Angeles City Council resolution of unanimous support for the 2024 bid.

To have any chance of bringing the Summer Games back to America in 2024, it’s time to dump Boston as the candidate city and go with Los Angeles.Granted, LA will be hard-pressed to beat a field of appealing European cities. But clearly, that’s the best hope of salvaging the badly wounded U.S. bid. After the hoopla of its initial selection, Boston has been beset by organizational problems and growing public discontent over spending billions of dollars on a 2½-week sporting event. That’s not a slap at Boston. The people who will actually be paying the massive bill need to be assured it’s worth it, and local organizers have done a very poor job making their case.